Friday Five - Winter Olympics

1) Which of the Winter Olympic sports is your favorite to watch? Men's hockey; figure skating and anything with skis or snowboards.

2) Some of the uniforms have attracted attention this year, such as the US Snowboarders' pseudo-flannel shirts and jeans and the Norwegian Curling team's -- ahem -- pants. Who do you think had the best-looking uniforms? Bermuda! I love that they always sport the shorts!

3) And Curling. Really? What's up with that? No clue. Have yet to watch any.

4) Define Nordic Combined. Don't look it up. Take a guess if you must. Ski jump then cross-country (aka: Nordic) skiing. And USA took home Gold AND Silver in this!

5) If you could be a Winter Olympics Champion just by wishing for it, which sport would you choose for winning your Gold Medal? Maybe snowboard-cross. That's pretty badass.

Friday Five: Fab February

1. When February comes along, how do you feel about the coming month?
I get excited for February because Sibling's birthday happens, and the weather in SF is usually lovely with the flowering trees starting to blossom.

2. What memories do you have about Valentine's Day? Are you doing anything to observe it this year? I've only had a romantic Valentine on the Day of twice ever, including last year. The past two years running, Valentine's Day was spent in CO celebrating Christmas with P. This year will be very different - I'm attending a friend's 40th birthday celebration on Valentine's Day in Seattle.

3. It is interesting that Monday's "Presidents Day" is not officially called that in every state. It is a U.S. federal holiday entitled "Washington's Birthday." Which is your favorite president and why? Favorite president? Really? I don't know that I have one, apart from Washington...since it's his reason we get a day off of work!!

4. Will you be celebrating Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras? How? Oh yes. Well, will be celebrating a few days late into Lent at party and will bake a king cake for that. For the actual Tuesday, I will be out celebrating ANOTHER friend's birthday (I know lots of February Babies, apparently). Also? I will wear purple and beads to work.

5. Any other ways to celebrate in February? Will celebrate Sibling's and my Aunt's birthday long-distance, and am looking forward to my mini-vacation to the Pacific Northwest. ooh - and the Olympics start tonight!!! Very excited about that.

Friday Five - Child's Play

From RevGals: Maybe you are better at it than me, but my first-born, responsible demeanor rarely lets up enough for me to do frivolous silly things – like playing on playgrounds – without a good reason. My friend will stand up in a crowded restaurant and serenade me with an operatic rendition of Happy Birthday. My sister is very good at grabbing the joy in the moment. I seem to need a child to bring it out in me and even then… it takes a lot.

Today’s Friday Five celebrates the spontaneous child in all of us…or at least the one that we admire in someone else.

1) On a scale of 1-5, with "5" being I can’t do this now I am about to jump into a pit of plastic balls at the mini-mall, and "1" being I can’t do this now until I can get all of the fonts on my blog to match – where are you? Today? I am about at a "2" right now - ready to be out from behind my desk at work and go outside to play!! But maybe a nap, first. That might push me to a "1" right there!.

2) What is the silliest/most childlike thing you have done as an adult? Ummmm how about the most recent? That would be dressing up as a Jedi for my 30th birthday party.

3) Any regrets? I kinda wish I had learned to ski when most of my other friends did, aka, as soon as they could walk. By the time I learned, I was too chicken (and still am) to fling myself down a mountain at breakneck speed. That, and my knees are not so great.

4) What is the silliest thing you have ever seen another adult do on purpose? Ooooh. That is a good question. I see a lot of my adult friends do silly things all the time!See: Professional Actors/Performers hahahahah!

5) What is something you wish you did when you had the chance? Similar to question 3, isn't this? Hmmmm, I wish I had broken my own rules and had a little wine to drink when I lived in France during college. I was of age there - but not yet 21. My host family thought I was CRAZY hahahahah.

BONUS: For our ‘I told you so’ sides – what thing did you skip doing and you’re really glad you did?! The only things which spring to mind in this category all seem to relate to putting together furniture ("you should have read the instructions") and driving ("you should have asked for directions"), all instances of which seem to apply to Sibling, for one. HAHAHHA :)

Friday Five - Games

So this Friday Five is about games, so play on ahead. . . .

1. Childhood games? We always played dominoes with our grandma and great-grandma growing up. And card games like go-fish, gin and poker (with beans for the ante!). Board games the most popular as kids around our house were: Monopoly, Sorry, Clue, CandyLand, Battleship, The Game of Life, Pictionary, Scrabble, checkers and Connect-Four.

2. Favorite and/or most hated board games? I LOVED Clue, pictionary, and monopoly. Most hated was probably ... I don't know...parchesi? Was that a board game?

3. Card games? Go Fish, Old Maid, Gin and Poker (5 card draw)

4. Travel/car games? License plate bingo - try to find all the states' plates; The Sign Game (Call out letters in ABC order until you get through the entire Alphabet...first one done wins, ie "A" in Avenue, "B" in Burger King, etc. No repeats or sharing of signs.); I spy; Radio (basically name-that-tune or band, whilst flippling through stations).

5. Adult pastimes that are not video games? Any board games, volleyball, croquet, cards/dominoes, sit around and tell stories from "back when I was your age", hiking, walking, fishing, make a home movie, boating, frisbee.

Friday Five - Pop Music

1) What sort of music did you listen to as a child - this would likely have been determined or influenced by your parents? Or perhaps your family wasn't musical...was the news the background? the radio? Singing around the piano? I listed to a mix of stuff: country music (from my mom); classic rock (from my dad); big band & oldies (from my grandma); classical music all on my own. And then my cousin introduced me to Aerosmith, INXS, Edie Brickell and Spinal Tap via his awesome mix tapes.

2) Going ahead to teenage years, is there a song that says "high school" (or whatever it might've been called where you lived) to you? Not a song, but two bands: Simon & Garfunkle; U2. And jazz...I discovered vocal and latin jazz in high school: opened my ears and changed my life.

3) What is your favorite music for a lift on a down day? Not that it's a lift, but the blues is what I like to listen to on a down day. Or Rammstein.

4) Who is your favorite performer of all time? THAT is an impossible question. I'll cop out and say watching Sibling perform karaoke is my favorite. Because it's totally true - he rocks it!

5) What is your favorite style of music for worship? I love - and miss - singing old hymns. I grew up with them, and we just don't sing them much anymore.

Friday Five: Life is a Verb

(FYI - if you ever feel like playing along with the Friday Fiver, I generally get the topics from RevGals.)

The author of Life is a Verb, Patti Digh, worked her book around these topics concerning life as a verb:

Say yes.
Be generous.
Speak up.
Love more.
Trust yourself.
Slow down.

1. What awakens you to the present moment? Sensory experiences: music, taste, sunshine, wind, touch, scents.

2. What are 5 things you see out your window right now? Alcatraz, The Bay Bridge, a Port Authority Flag blowing in the wind, B - our local panhandler, and lots of traffic.

3. Which verbs describe your experience of God? Brick-batting (sometimes); whisper; gnaw; soothe

4. From the book on p. 197: Who were you when you were 13? Where did that kid go? Let's see...that would put me in *cringe* about 8th grade. Good times, right there. I was sweet, shy, bespectacled, poofy-haired, slightly awkward, trombone-playing, goody-two-shoes, braces-wearing, silly, uncomfortable-in-my-own skin kinda girl. As far as where that kid went? Elements of her still exist inside of me, but I'm definitely more comfortable overall with who am I than I was at that age. Thank goodness.

5. From the book on p. 88: If your work were the answer to a question, what would the question be? I have two types of work, I guess.
Question: Dayjob?
Answer: Pays the bills, provides health insurance, funds my travel habit, and gives me freedom to figure out who the heck I am and WTH I'm doing.
Question: Professional musician?
Answer: Yes, people pay me to sing, act and do all sorts of crazy things onstage that I would most likely never do in real life. It's almost like getting paid to go to therapy sometimes in that it gives me freedom to explore who I am and figure out WTH I'm doing. See? That ties in nicely with job #1.

Bonus idea for you here or on your own--from the book on p. 149:"Go outside. Walk slowly forward. Open your hand and let something fall into it from the sky. It might be an idea, it might be an object. Name it. Set it aside. Walk forward. Open your hand and let something fall into it from the sky. Name it. Set it aside. Repeat. . . ."

Friday Five - Grocery stores

1. Grocery shopping--love it or hate it? eh. It's okay.

2. Who is the primary food shopper in your household? Me. My brother does sometimes...but he doesn't cook.

3. Do you have a beloved store (like Trader Joe's) which is unique to your location or family? Trader Joe's! I also like Andronicos, but I don't get there very often.

4. How about a farmer's market, or CSA share, as we move into summer? Or do you grow your own fruits/veggies/herbs? I do enjoy farmers' markets, and I like walking down to the one near my office on Tuesday afternoons.

5. What's the favorite thing you buy at the grocery store? I probably by the most of soy milk and oatmeal (my breakfast staples). I don't know that that makes it my *favorite*, per se, but I do buy it frequently.

Friday Five - Moving

1. A big move is looming - name one thing that you could not possibly part with: My teddy bear, Bobby. Alright, so, everyone ELSE tells me that Bobby is really a dog. But, whatever. It will always be my teddy bear, which has a music-box inside that plays "Frere Jacques," and wears one of my baby dresses. It's just one of those childhood things.

2. Name one thing that you would gladly leave behind: My current kitchen table/chairs. The table is heavy-as-hell black metal with an entirely glass top. Kinda pretty, but not my favorite. I would rather have a wooden table at some point - feels warmer, to me. More inviting. Less prone to shatter in an earthquake, too.

3. How do you prepare for a move:

a. practically? Getting rid of a bunch of stuff and boxing the rest. I practically didn't do anything for my last move (within the same city), because I was working 14 hours a day and extremely stressed. If it weren't for housemates (thanks, AZ) and family, I would not have made it.

b. spiritually/ emotionally? When I left Dallas after my senior year of college, I was a MESS. Cried for hours and hours - thought that I would never be happy again, because I was being parted from so many of my close friends. Heartwrenching. Ah...youth. And I was sad. But I got over it. And moved to SF and reconnected with old college friends, stayed in touch with my other people, and even - whoa! - made some new friends. I am grateful for my SF community; wouldn't be able to survive without it. That doesn't answer the question, except to say: I get by with a little help from my friends. And prayers.

4. What is the first thing you look for in a new place? It canNOT smell like cat pee. Or any other type of furry creature; needs to have hardwood flooring or tile; and NO MOLD IN THE BATHROOMS. I am allergic to all sorts of animals, dust and molds. So those things are pretty important. Location is important, too, but almost secondary to all of the above.

5. Do you settle in easily, or does it take time for you to find your feet in a new location? Gosh. It's been so long since I moved...I've lived in my current place for 6 years. I think I settle in pretty easily, though. I'm a homebody, but I love to travel and discover a new place. If that makes sense.

The bonus for today; a new opportunity has come up for you to spend 5 years in a new area, where would you go and why? Oooh. I would go to Colorado. I haven't lived there as an adult, and it would be a neat experience, I think. Or, you know...Europe. HAHAHAHAHA.

8 days a week

Whew...8 days since a post.

Here are my excuses:
1. Didn't take a computer with me to Monterey last weekend. Heavenly!
2. Haven't been home much to use the laptop.
3. Laptop power supply on the fritz. Again.
4. It's been an intense week.

Here's a Friday Five of favorite things about my past week:

1. Bike riding in Monterey
2. Seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark on the big screen. (For free!)
3. Started planning my 30th birthday party for this summer
4. Super duper emails from P
5. Karaoke with the old crew!

Friday Five - Friends

As Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote: "The way to have a friend is to be a friend."

So today let's write about the different kinds of friends we have, like childhood friends, lost friends, tennis friends, work friends, and the list goes on. List 5 different types of friends you have had in your life and what they were/are like.

1. The Best Friend: There are many variations of a "Best Friend" (childhood best friend, current best friend, lifelong best friend...etc.), but they usually share the following traits: can make you laugh just by saying one word which refers to some crazy incident of years past; cry with you at life's worst imaginable moments; sit with you in the emergency room in the middle of the night; straight-up tell you what you *need* to hear - even if it's not what you *want* to hear; they can read you like a book (and vice versa).

2. The Artsy Friend: I wade through many different social circles - the arts constituting one of the bigger ones - and a great portion of my friends fall in various places along the Artsy Friend spectrum. (And I fall into this category for some friends.) The Artsy Friend: is unique and has a treasure trove of experiences solely as a result of them being "in the arts"; provides reasons to go out and 'get cultured' for their other friends; generally marches to the beat of their own drummer; has a penchant for scarves, bangles and/or other excessive accessories - depending on their particular art.

3. The Travel Buddy: Some friends make better travel buddies than others, and often, one finds this out AFTER the trip is said and done. A true Travel Buddy compliments your own travel style, as conflicting travel styles lead to clashes, hurt feelings and possibly even severed friendships. Good Travel Buddy qualities: flexibility, humor, curiosity and the same tolerance for togetherness/independence as yourself. Extra bonus points if they can read a map and/or speak other languages.

4. The Family Friend: I have some wonderful family friends - people who have known me my entire life and are some of my biggest cheerleaders. They are, for all intents and purposes, part of my extended family, and are often called "Aunt," or "Surrogate Mother," "brotha from anotha motha" etc.

5. The Friend-of-a-Friend Friend: These are the folks you run into at mutual friends' birthday parties every year, the annual alumni wine tasting event, or other such similar social gatherings. And then it happnes: you end up connecting over something random ("OMG - you're taking Arabic, too?") or run into each other at a party sans mutual friend ("I'm so glad to see you - I don't know anyone else here!"), and you become *actual* friends all on your own. And when that happens, it can be a lovely thing.

Friday Five - A Bug's Life

1. Ladybugs or ladybirds? Pillbugs or roly-polys? Jesus bugs or water skeeters? Any other interesting regional or familial name variations? Ladybugs, roly-polys...don't know what a Jesus bug is.

2. Stomp on spiders, carry them outside, or peacefully co-exist?Freak out and get someone else to take care of them.

3. Favorite insect?I like the aforementioned ladybugs. Supposed to be lucky (if you're into that kind of thing)!

4. Least favorite?Pretty much everything else. The higher the leg count, the higher my freak-out quotient.

5. Got any good bug stories to share? In kindergarten, I found a black widow in our basement. I even knew what it was because we had just learned about them at school. So, my mom put it in a jar, and I took it on the bus (ON THE BUS!) with me to class the next day to show off to everyone.

Bonus question: share a poem, song, quotation, etc. about insects.
I got to play a dragonfly in the opera "L'enfant et les sortileges" by Ravel. It was fun, but I don't remember the words at the moment.

Friday Five - Fork in the Road

For today's Friday Five, share with us five "fork-in-the-road" events, or persons, or choices. And how did life change after these forks in the road?

1. Losing my first major audition taught me that I can't and won't always get what I want. I was not accepted into a certain prestigious Children's Choir for which I had auditioned. But - in all honesty, and in retrospect - I think that that was harder on my mom than it was on me. But I learned a great deal about competition and what it meant to lose gracefully - especially when my brother was accepted to that same choir a few years later and spent years performing and touring with them.

2. Losing my first major High School audition taught me that there was more to "it" than just being talented - I had to put some effort, as well (a lesson frequently repeated since that time.) I auditioned for the 10-12th grade honors girls choir and didn't get in. I was devastated, because it lowered my chances of getting into Meistersingers - the honors 11th/12th grade mixed choir, which was a BIG deal. I learned though, and started taking voice lessons after that failed audition. The next year, I got into Meisters, which leads to . . .

3. Going out of state for college. I knew I wanted to get away from my home state of Colorado, and that I wanted to study music (thanks to much encouragement from my choral teacher in Meisters), but also wanted to study abroad in French. And, it was strange, I had had no desire to tour the undergrad school I ended up choosing. We randomly drove by it one day, after having visited Baylor, and stopped to tour the arts school. As soon as I stepped foot in the door, I knew that's where I was going to go for college. And I loved it.

4. Studying abroad in Paris was life-changing in the sense that everything was different: the culture; the language (even though I spoke French before I went); the transportation...everything. The only thing that remained a constant for me was God - He really used that time to teach me that He would have to be the rock upon which I built anything. For when the world swirls around in a foreign accent and smoke swirls, I had to have a solid place on which to stand.

5. Moving to San Francisco for grad school was an easy decision...as soon as I stepped foot in the school, I knew it was where I was going to be. However, my three years there were very difficult, and, though I wouldn't change my experiences, sometimes I can't believe I survived the amount of stress packed into those three years. Going to music school - even on the "friendly" West Coast - is very competitive, challenging personally and add in the midst of that the pressures to be perfect (from myself) whilst completely overhauling my vocal technique...I started having panic attacks, no wonder! But the silver lining is that I have the most amazing voice teacher and mentor from the school, and we're still working together all these years later.


(I see a theme ... music and travel...thus mirroring the narrow path I walk everyday, trying to decide which way to jump - more towards music? Or language? Or travel? Or both? But how...? There are so many more people and events in my life which have shaped me and changed me...but for now? These will do...)

Friday Five: Mid-Lent Check-In

1. Did you give up, or take on, anything special for Lent this year? I gave up watching TV.

2. Have you been able to stay with your original plans, or has life gotten in the way? Pretty much, yes. Though I did watch part of the news the other night.

3. Has God had any surprising blessings for you during this Lent? I have rediscovered listening to music just for the sole purpose of listening to music without any other distractions. And not just having it as background to other activities - but actively listening to it - which I have not done in a very long time.

4. What is on your inner and/or outer agenda for the remainder of Lent and Holy Week?
I have lots of rehearsal during Lent for a forthcoming show. As far as Holy Week itself? It's tech week for said show...but I'll most likely celebrate Easter with friends and family here in SF.

5. Where do you most long to see resurrection, in your life and/or in the world, this Easter? Resurrection and renewal in my daily spiritual life. As far as the world at large goes...wow. I don't even know where to start!

BONUS Friday Five

Friday Five of things on my mind:

1. SF MUNI bus advertisements reading "ISLAM: Submission to God."
I have two issues with these posters:
A) If a Christian organization tried to do that in San Francisco, there would be no END to the riots.
B) Speaking of riots - I'm confused as to why there is not any uproar in this particular city, given that Islam is not necessarily known for being lenient in their views of homosexuality. Curious. (Picture below from eric-m's flickr stream).























2. I gave up TV for Lent - which is a good thing. And I'm enjoying some of my free time by actually listening to albums from start to finish whilst cooking or not doing anything else...and I am loving that. I used to do that ALL the time as a kid - hours of my life spent sprawled on the floor poring over liner notes and hitting "repeat" until I knew the entire album by heart.

3. Cleaning. As in, my closet. Baby steps, people, but I SHALL OVERCOME.

4. Am currently brainstorming a mix CD (or a "playlist" for all you digital-types). The working title is "Guitar Orgy"... featuring all my favorite guitar-driven tunes - metal, blues, classical and otherwise. Input from the peanut gallery is welcome. (Special cliched hidden bonus track: Free Bird!)

5. It's Friday. YAY. And today is 03-06-09, which is kinda cool.

Friday Five - Hodge Podge

1. What activity can you not believe you survived in your childhood?
Considering I can't even make it out of my house most mornings these days without injuring myself (exhibit A: rug-burned, aching knee and bruised torso from slipping in my bathroom earlier this week), there are DEFINITELY some activities I cannot believe I survived: sledding behind a pick-up truck...you know...in which the sled is TIED to the truck; scaling a highway embankment fence in the dark - and tiptoe-ing across the ledge hanging on for dear life with cars speeding by just on the other side of said metal fence; any science lab involving fire, ever; ski-school (I'm horrible); The Blob at Eagle Lake - which entailed jumping from couple stories up in the air onto a ginormous inflatable "blob" floating thing and scooting to the end of it so that when the next person behind you jumped on - you shot up into the air before landing in a freezing mountain lake - but oh, was it fun; driving up to Evergreen, CO in a wicked snowstorm with a bunch of teenagers.

2. What activity can you not believe kids get away with today? Cursing/having sex in like, middle school (or earlier?!)/texting at the dinner table/being completely disrespectful to their parents.

3. If you could be anyone else in the world alive or dead, who would you choose to be? Possibly my great-grandmother. Just to see what her life was like.

4. A lot of people think they've been in love at 15 or 16 years old, do you look back and think you were a stupid kid or do you believe that you were old enough to know what love is? I might have had an inkling of what love was...ha...but no. I was never "in love" at that age.

5. Do you think it is possible to remain in love with someone you once loved, but haven't seen in a year? Most definitely yes.

Friday Five - Taking a Break

Tell us how you would spend:

1. A 15 minute break: Solve the daily crossword puzzle.

2. An afternoon off: On a nice day - go to the beach. On a rainy day - the movies.

3. An unexpected free day: Hmmm...On a nice day - perhaps drive up to wine country. On a rainy day - spend the day at home getting stuff done, not changing out of my pj's, and reading.

4. A week's vacation: I would probably go home to the CO Rocky Mountains. Or to Italy. hahaha A wide range of choices.

5. A sabbatical: I would buy one of those one-way world airplane tickets, and globetrot!

Friday Five - Pets

For this week's Friday Five, the theme is Pets...so, here are five memorable Pets I've had.

1. Pancho Pescado: He's my current pet betta fish, and he was a birthday present about 3-4 years ago! I can't believe he's still alive, actually! He's a quiet pet and seems to like living in my house. But he especially loves when AZ comes to house-sit. She's his favorite person!

2.Issac and Fig Newt: Sibling and I had a pair of firebellied Newts when we were in about middle school. They were so cute and slimy! I remember it was a HUGE deal to drive out to the Aurora Mall pet shop and pick them out. However, we were bad caretakers, and the little plastic aquarium thing they lived in didn't get cleaned very often, and was very smelly. One night, dad put the tank outside and we had a freeze. He told us that they must have crawled out and escpaed. YEARS later, he finally fessed up that they had frozen and died!

3. Jenny and Red: Welsh Corgies just like the Queen! My parents had corgies for their entire marriage pre-kids (10+years), and Jenny and Red were still around for my childhood. They were outside dogs (we had a heated basement room they went in at night) and never came in the house due to allergies on our part. But I loved playing with them. Red bit me really bad on the knee when I was about 3, so he went bye-bye. Jenny, however, was a member of our family until 6th or 7th grade. She passed away of old age . . . it was one of the only times I've seen my father cry. After she died, he said he was never ever gonna take care of another dog...and he hasn't. But he did get us the newts shortly thereafter.

4. It Came From The Drain: Mutant lizard. During my sophomore year of college, I lived in a pan-hellenic sorority house on the top floor. One of the benefits of living on the top floor was not having to share the large communal bathroom, but having a private bathroom to share with only 4 girls. And a lizard. With no tail. He just appeared one day, and liked to hide behind our shampoo bottles - but would scamper down the drain upon being discovered. He did this for months! And then one day he was gone...off to a bigger and better drain somewhere else!

5. School fair goldfish: I don't know about you, but we had a TON of these little creatures over the years. We'd win them at the fair, and they'd survive for about 4 days. Which is why I'm surprised Pancho is still alive!

Friday Five - Random

Whether it's new friends or new loves or new employers, what are five things people should know about you?

1. I am fairly easygoing, but I have a stubborn streak.
2. I am terrified of E.T.
3. I LOVE music - performing it, listening to it, dancing to it, etc.
4. HOWEVER, I *strongly* dislike being in a social situation and having folks say "Oooh, you sing? Sing something for us! Right now!"
5. I get frustrated when professional Christian artists settle for mediocrity.

Friday Five - Pancakes

1. Scratch or mix? Buttermilk or plain? Scratch, if possible, though there are some decent mixes out there. And I use buttermilk if I have any in the fridge!

2. Pure and simple, or with additions cooked in? Pure and simple, but *occasionally* with chocolate chips..

3. For breakfast or for dinner? Either. Though during the holidays with houseguests, we've had them a couple times in the morning.

4. Preferred syrup or other topping? How about the best side dish? Real maple syrup if they are plain pancakes. No butter. (If they are chocolate chip - no topping needed!) I love bacon or sausage patties with pancakes - and I like to dip them in maple syrup, too! It's the tasty salty/sweet combo thing.

5. Favorite pancake restaurant? In SF, probably Kate's Kitchen. Back home in CO, I like the Original Pancake House - especially in the fall, when they have their awesome pumpkin pancakes!

Friday...err...Sunday Five - Countdown to Christmas Edition

There are only five three full days before Christmas Day, and whether you use them for shopping, wrapping, preaching, worshiping, singing or traveling or even wishing the whole darn thing were over last Tuesday, there's a good chance they will be busy ones.
So let's make this easy, if we can: tell us five things you need to accomplish before Christmas Eve.

1. Wrap gifts
2. Send Christmas cards (realllllly late this year)
3. Cross fingers and hope Mom's gift arrives on time
4. Costco run for Sibling's party
5. Keep Mom sane